OCHMAN LAB
People
Professor
Howard Ochman
Department of Molecular Biosciences
Joseph J. & Jeanne M. Lagowski Regents
Professorship in Molecular Bioscience
howard.ochman@austin.utexas.edu
We apply experimental, comparative and computational approaches to investigate the factors contributing to the evolution of bacterialgenomes and microbial communities. Some of our current projects investigate:
• The role of adaptive and non-adaptive processes in bacterial genome evolution
• The causes and consequences of genome reduction in bacterial pathogens
• The origins of new genes and functional complexity
• The microbial community diversity residing in Great Ape hosts
Academic history
• Ph.D., University of Rochester 1984
• M.S., University of Rochester 1979
• B.A., Vassar College 1975
Professional History
• Professor, Department of Molecular Biosciences, University of Texas at Austin 2021-
• Professor, Department of Integrative Biology, University of Texas at Austin 2013-2021
• Professor, Dept. of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Yale University 2010-2013
• Professor, Depts. of Biochemistry & Molecular Biophysics, Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, University of Arizona 1998-2009
• Assistant Professor to Full Professor, Department of Biology, University of Rochester 1992-1998
• Research Assistant, Department of Genetics, Washington University School of Medicine 1987-1991
• Postdoctoral, University of California, Berkeley 1984-1987
Awards and Honors
• American Academy of Arts and Sciences, elected 2024
• University of Arizona Regents' Professor, elected 2008 Fellow
• American Association for the Advancement of Science, 2006
• FellowAmerican Academy of Microbiology, 2001
• National Institutes of Health, Research Career Development Award
• Lucille P. Markey Charitable Trust, Center Award for New Faculty, Washington University
Recent Publications (last three years)
Uz-Zaman M. H., S. D'Alton, J. E. Barrick, and H. Ochman (2024) Promoter recruitment drives the emergence of proto-genes in a long-term evolution experiment with Escherichia coli. PLoS Biol. 22:e3002418. doi: 10.1371/journal.pbio.3002418.
Ochman H., E. M. Quandt , N. Gottell, and J. A. Gilbert (2024) Examining the taxonomic distribution of tetracycline resistance in a wastewater plant. Sustain Microbiol. 1(1):qvad003. doi: 10.1093/sumbio/qvad003
Kirchberger P. C. and H. Ochman (2023) Microviruses: A World Beyond phi X174. Annu Rev Virol. 10(1):99-118. doi: 10.1146/annurev-virology-100120-011239.
Cobo-Simón M., R. Hart, and H. Ochman (2023) Gene flow and species boundaries of the genus Salmonella. mSystems. 8(4):e0029223. doi: 10.1128/msystems.00292-23
Cobo-Simón M., R. Hart, and H. Ochman (2023) Escherichia coli: What is and Which are?. Mol Biol Evol . 40(1):msac273. doi: 10.1093/molbev/msac273.
Edwards O., G. Jander, H. Ochman, R. Schuurink, and K. B. Singh (2022) Insects co-opt host genes to overcome plant defences. Fac Rev. 11(10). doi: 10.12703/r-01-000007
Kirchberger P. C., Z. A. Martinez, and H. Ochman (2022) Organizing the Global Diversity of Microviruses. mBio13(3):e0058822. doi: 10.1128/mbio.00588-22